The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has approved a revised General Insurance Code of Practice that will take full effect by July next year.

ICA says the new code establishes a transparent and independent governance framework for monitoring and compliance, has stronger and more detailed obligations for helping consumers in financial difficulty and features easier-to-follow claims and complaints processes.

“The code has been revised after a robust and thorough review [and] extensive consultation with a range of consumer groups and regulators and the general insurance industry,” ICA President Mark Milliner said.

The code review, compiled by lawyer Ian Enright, was released last August and contained 60 recommendations that were then assessed by an ICA working group.

The new code stops short of introducing governance oversight as proposed by Mr Enright, who called for the code compliance committee to become a more independent code governance body with three independent members, an industry representative and a customer representative.

Mr Enright also proposed that associated committees with minority industry representation should set policy and oversee promotion of the code, industry education and training.

ICA also consulted the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Financial Ombudsman Service before releasing the new version.

The revised code creates a “code governance committee” comprising a consumer representative, an industry representative and an independent chairman, which effectively replaces the code compliance committee. It will make recommendations, investigate breaches by insurers and “sanction” offending companies by enforcing rectification or naming the company.

The code will be formally launched on July 1 this year, with participants beginning the transition to new requirements from that date. They must be fully compliance within 12 months.